Investigations

On January 13 and 15, 2014, in U.S. District Court, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Dennis F. Campbell, Timothy Hubler, and Romeo Cruz were sentenced in connection with their roles in the largest reported Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) fraud in the Department's history. Campbell, the former vice-president of Schuylkill Products (SPI), was sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment and 2 years supervised release. Hubler, a former vice president of CDS Engineers, Inc. (CDS), was sentenced to 33 months' imprisonment, ordered to pay $82,370 in restitution to the IRS, and 2 years supervised release. Cruz, who operated Marikina Construction Corporation, was sentenced to 33 months' imprisonment, ordered to pay $79,450 in restitution to the IRS, and 2 years of supervised release. Additionally, all three defendants were ordered to pay $119 million in restitution, jointly and severally, to FHWA.

The investigation revealed that Campbell, Hubler, Cruz, and others defrauded the DOT DBE program for more than 15 years, involving more than $136 million in highway transportation contracts. SPI and CDS, a subsidiary of SPI, used Marikina as a shell DBE corporation, to obtain DBE subcontracts for bridge beam installation projects with the intention of having CDS and SPI employees perform, manage, control, and supervise the beam installations. SPI and CDS officials fraudulently prepared business documents on Marikina letterhead, used a Marikina payroll account to pay a CDS supervisor and work crew, and SPI officials paid Marikina a fixed fee for the use of its name in obtaining the DBE contracts.

We investigated this case jointly with the FBI, U.S. Department of Labor OIG, and FHWA provided substantial assistance.